Lockheed posts net loss, higher pension costs loom BETHESDA, Md. (Reuters) =97 Lockheed Martin (LMT) Friday reported higher=20 fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations on a strong performance= =20 from its space systems and fighter jets, but special charges wiped out the= =20 profits. The largest U.S. defense contractor also warned that rising=20 pension costs would hurt future earnings, and it cut its 2003 profit=20 forecast. Lockheed, which makes the F-22 Joint Strike Fighter, reported a=20 net loss due to $722 million in charges from unusual items such as the=20 impairment of telecommunications investments and a payment to a Russian=20 manufacturer for commercial satellite launches. Lockheed said=20 fourth-quarter earnings before one-time items rose to $380 million, or 85=20 cents a share, from $297 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier. Wall= =20 Street analysts had expected earnings of 78 cents to 85 cents per share=20 before one-time items, with an average estimate of 81 cents, according to=20 research firm Thomson First Call. Sales rose to $7.8 billion from $7.3 billion. Including nonrecurring items, the company posted a net loss of $347=20 million, or 77 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.5 billion, or= =20 $3.49 a share, a year earlier, when it took more than $1 billion in charges= =20 to exit the telecommunications business. The company cut its 2003 earnings= =20 forecast to a range of $2.15 to $2.20 a share, with sales expected to rise= =20 8% to 12%. Sales in 2004 should grow by 5%, the company said in a=20 statement. Lockheed's previous 2003 earnings estimate was $2.75 to $2.85 a= =20 share and assumed that the company would achieve its long-term target of a= =20 9.5% return on its pension fund investments. But the company said the=20 growing costs of its pension fund, which has been decimated by the bear=20 market, will cut its 2003 profit by about 75 cents a share. Lockheed said=20 that at the end of 2002 it took a $1.6 billion non-cash charge to its=20 equity from the poor performance of its pension fund. Pension expense is=20 now expected to grow to about $490 million in 2003, far above a previous=20 forecast of at least $50 million, the company said. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: www.pichemas.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************